Fantastic Beasts' Katherine Waterston Speaks Out Against J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter stars continue to put more and more distance between themselves and creator J.K. Rowling and her transphobia.

This time, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them star Katherine Waterston has talked to The Independent about why she chose to speak out against the author. While Waterston first distanced herself from Rowling last year, she was happy to talk more about her support for trans rights again.

In August of 2020, Rowling rejected and returned her Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award after the foundation denounced her violent anti-trans views. Rowling has long been flirting with TERF rhetoric on social media, and in the last few years started to openly blog about the subject, saying that allowing trans women into women's spaces is the same as allowing male predators in, and threatens the safety of women.

Waterston firmly disagrees. The day after Rowling returned the award, Waterston posted on her Instagram stories denouncing Rowling's arguments.

"Trans women pose no threat to cis women, but we pose a threat to them if we make them outcasts," was the headline of a Guardian article she shared. She also posted several screenshots of the article, circling important parts in red.

Among the parts she circled were quotes like "...sorry, you can't be a feminist if you're not for everyone's human rights, notably other women's rights," "when there is so much real violence against women, it's a sad waste of time to focus on imaginary maybe presumably it-could-theoretically-happen violence," and "there is no one-size-fits-all definition of what a woman is."

The Independent asked her how she made the decision to post that. "I think because I was associated with a film project, because I was associated with Fantastic Beasts, it felt important to communicate my position," she said. "One wondered if they might be grouped in with other people's views by association."

Most Harry Potter stars have firmly stated that they stand on the opposite side of Rowling on the issue of trans rights. Original series stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have all come out against Rowling.

Even Eddie Redmayne, who has been criticized for starring as a trans woman in the film The Danish Girl, criticized Rowling's stances. "As someone who has worked with both J.K. Rowling and members of the trans community, I wanted to make it absolutely clear where I stand," he told Variety. "I disagree with Jo's comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid."

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